You're highlighting how this program is designed in a unique way, in that elected officials can make recommendations on which businesses can receive the subsidy. The subsidy, on average, has been a little over $4,000 per youth in the last few years of the program. There are national priorities for the program, which are meant to encourage those who face barriers to access the labour market—for example, individuals with disabilities, or indigenous individuals. However, there are also the local priorities that every elected official gets to influence.
Our recommendation was about aligning those a bit better so you can demonstrate that the program is meeting its main objectives. One of those is gathering information about job creation. Right now, ESDC just reports on the number of jobs funded, instead of the number of jobs created. How do we know whether the program is achieving its objectives without measuring exactly that?